South African Tuner Gives The BMW i8 A New Look

The BMW i8 is the most advanced high-performance machine BMW currently offers as part of their product range. To many, it’s a stepping stone in BMW’s product evolution that will, somewhere down the road, produce a fully electric high-performance model by the Bavarian car maker. The BMW i8 is both a production model and a test bed. It’s a vehicle that matches its futuristic design with impressive performance. It affords users with impeccable handling, great performance, and impressive fuel economy.

The BMW i8 is powered by a hybrid powertrain, allowing the driver to fill it up in mere minutes while producing low-end torque and impressive off-the-line performance in one package.

BMW developed this powertrain specifically for the i8. It uses a combination of a 1.5-liter three-cylinder petrol engine and a set of highly efficient electric motors, powering all four wheels of this vehicle. The combustion engine develops 170 kW/231 hp and drives the rear wheels of the BMW i8. The 96 kW/131 hp electric drive, on the other hand, joins in the power generation and provides traction for the front wheels. Together, this combination yields a power rating of 374 hp and 570 Nm of torque. In turn, this combination allows for an all-electric range of up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).

Performance wise, the BMW i8 will have no problem with most performance cars it encounters on the roads today. The i8 will sprint from 0-62mph (0-100km/h) in just 4.2 seconds and reach an electronically limited top speed of 155mph (250km/h), all the while, having company stated NEDC-equivalent values for fuel consumption at 1.8l/100km and power consumption of 14.0kWh/100 kilometers. This equates to CO2 emissions of up to 42 g/km. In comparison, the Tesla Motors factory figures state that the Model S P90D has a 20.0 kWh/100 km rating, joined by a 2.2l/100km equivalent fuel consumption. The company figures for CO2 emissions state that a Model S produces 28g of CO2 per kilometer.

While being both a performance beast and an eco-friendly machine, the vehicle is also a highly coveted tuning item. This particular BMW i8 comes from South Africa. Tuned by Race!, it showcases a carbon fiber body kit and a set of aftermarket wheels.

The vehicle features a complete body kit from Vorsteiner. It consists of a front splitter, a rear diffuser, and a boot lid. All of the parts are built from the finest Autoclaved Pre-Impregnated carbon fiber. Thanks to this, Vorsteiner’s carbon fiber provides superior stiffness, aerospace strength, and durability compared to traditional hand-laid carbon fiber composites. And, for a vehicle that emphasizes low weight, it’s definitely good to see lightweight parts like that added to the vehicle.

Additionally, the vehicle features a 3M matte black roof, hood, and rear window wrap. But, the most impressive aspect of this build is the aftermarket wheels. Built by ADV.1, these lightweight aftermarket wheels suit this hybrid high-performance machine perfectly. For this build, the tuner used a set of ADV15R Track Speck SL Series forged wheels. The wheels are sized 22×9 and 22×10.5 in the front and rear, respectively. The most impressive part of this wheel setup is the finish.

The wheels feature Matte Gunmetal centers and a Polished Matte Blue finish. Finally, the customer chose a Hidden Hardware option, perfecting the looks of these directional wheels perfectly. Grab a detailed view of this build in the media gallery right below.

Yeah, and even the rumors about the second-generation are not that good. According to some info we’ve received today, it’s still going ti be a petrol powered hybrid. A bit more horsepower, but that’s it, unfortunately.

Vote Up0-1Vote Down Reply

5 days ago

antrik

While I’d always applaud a BEV version, just putting a large battery in the back would surely totally wreck weight distribution; while introducing a skateboard design would entirely change the unique design of this car… It’s quite a conundrum I fear.